


Never Let Go

by songsformonkeys



Category: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2021)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gender-neutral Reader, M/M, No Spoilers, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26901592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songsformonkeys/pseuds/songsformonkeys
Summary: Javier Gutierrez is a sweet man, a little too sweet for a man running in the kind of circles that he does. He's sort of naive, which you might have found sort of endearing if it didn't also constantly put him at risk of trusting the wrong people and ending up dead. Javi's all heart and even more enthusiasm. A human puppy, with little impulse control, fronting one of the biggest drug cartels in Central America. Sometimes you feel like it's your job to be the roadblock that makes sure he doesn't run himself off the edge off a cliff.
Relationships: javi gutierrez/genderneutralreader, javi gutierrez/reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Never Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> yeah…so this happened. I’ve been obsessing over that orange shirt for days! Then I read the script for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent today and had to write something. There aren’t any spoilers for the movie in this though so should be safe to read even if you don’t want to know the plot.

Javier Gutierrez is a sweet man, a little too sweet for a man running in the kind of circles that he does. He's sort of naive, which you might have found sort of endearing if it didn't also constantly put him at risk of trusting the wrong people and ending up dead. Javi's all heart and even more enthusiasm. A human puppy, with little impulse control, fronting one of the biggest drug cartels in Central America. Sometimes you feel like it's your job to be the roadblock that makes sure he doesn't run himself off the edge off a cliff.

So when Javi doesn't show up for dinner one evening, you immediately get suspicious. Javi doesn't usually miss dinner.

Adjusting the gun holster and checking that the weapon tucked against your ribs is loaded, you go searching the big house. Javi is nowhere to be seen but when you walk down the stairs to the big basement, you hear sounds coming from the room at the end of the corridor, the movie room.  _ Of course... _ you think to yourself as you walk over to the door. There's a gold plaque at eye-level with the word ”Javi” on it. You had never quite understood the need to label a room in your own home with your name. But then again, you had long since accepted that there was a whole lot of things you didn't understand when it came to your boss.

You knock gently on the door to the movie room and the movie pauses. You push the door open. The movie room is almost completely dark but in the light from the giant screen you can still make out the floor-to-ceiling shelves with DVDs that cover the entire back wall, the mini-fridge and the snack cabinet, and the three-seater couch in the middle of the room.

Javi is on the couch in question, curled up under a blanket. There's a giant bowl of popcorn on the table in front of him, and you suppose that explains why he'd missed dinner.

When Javi turns towards you, his eyes look extra shiny in the dim light from the movie and when he greets you, his voice sounds a little thicker than usual. He lifts the edge of the blanket in an invitation and you glance towards the tv. Titanic.

_ At least it's not another fucking Nicolas Cage movie,  _ you think to yourself as you walk over to join him. Javi carefully smooths the blanket over your legs too before reaching for a tissue.

”You're not even at the sad part,” you note, glancing between him and the movie.

”Knowing what's to come makes the whole thing sad,” he says before blowing his nose. You suppose he's right.

Javi starts the movie again and offers you a glass of orange juice. Javi drinks orange juice like other people drink water, claims it's the elixir of life. He's a big fan of orange anything, really. Has got a handful of orange trees planted in the back garden. They're too young to give proper fruit but Javi still insists on eating the sour little orbs. The man also wears more orange than any respectable 45-year-old should be able to get away with. Reluctantly, you have to admit that he does look unfairly good in orange, though.

Javi has also inflicted his love of oranges upon you and last year for Christmas, he'd given you an expensive soap smelling of orange blossoms. It hadn't been the most  _ You _ gift that you'd received, and briefly wondered if it had been a hint that you smelled bad. You had decided not to look too closely into that. It was a useful gift, if nothing else, and it did smell sort of wonderful.

”Was there something you wanted to talk about, by the way?” Javi suddenly asks, pulling you from your thoughts. He looks like he only now realized that there might have been a reason you came down here. You have to think for a moment if there had. Then you shake your head.

”Nothing that can't wait until the movie's over,” you answer and Javi seems pleased by this reply, maybe realizing that means he'll have company until then. He relaxes back against the couch, his thigh nudging yours under the blanket. You lean back too and try and get comfortable but the gun is uncomfortably digging into your side. After a couple of attempts to adjust it, you give up and take the gun holster off completely. You put it on the small table next to Javi's orange juice, well within reach if you should need it.

The movie continues playing and you have to admit that Javi has a point. The whole movie does seem a bit sad. Even the good parts are tainted with the knowledge that they won't be allowed to last. You glance over at Javi in the dark, the orange glow from the sketching scene makes him look golden and soft.

Javi doesn't notice that you're watching him, too consumed by the movie, mouth slightly open and... twitching? It takes you a couple of moments to realize he's mouthing along to the dialogue.

_ Too soft,  _ you think, and it makes you sad so you look away.

”Should I learn how to play the pan flute,” Javi asks a little later.

”Absolutely not,” you reply, but you can't quite keep the smile off your face and you see Javi grinning in your peripheral vision.

”Did you know that there was an actual J Dawson on the real Titanic?” he continues.

”I did not,” you answer truthfully.

”Neither did Cameron before he'd made the movie,” Javi explains in a half-whisper. He leans a little closer as if there you were at an actual cinema and there were other people not to disturb. His breath smells faintly of oranges and popcorn, a mix of flavors you suddenly find yourself curious about.

”Was there a Rose too?” you half-whisper back. Javi shakes his head.

”Unfortunately not. That would have been cool. Rose was inspired by a real person, though. A woman named Beatrice. But she was never on the Titanic.”

Javi continues to share a few more bits of trivia as the movie progresses. You shift awkwardly during the sex scene in the car, hyper-aware of the way Javi's thigh is lined up against yours, but Javi just seems enthralled. When the ship hits the iceberg, Javi honest to God gasps, as if the whole thing comes as a shock to him. It can't possibly. He must have seen this movie at least a hundred times.

Javi's mostly silent after that. You can't blame him. The terror of the people aboard the ship feels a bit suffocating to you as well.

When Jack tells Rose not to let go of his hand, you feel warm fingers curl around yours, where they rest on the blanket. You close your eyes briefly but can't bring yourself to pull your hand away. It's one of Javi's movie things, surely, just like the mouthed dialogue. You shouldn't read anything into it. Javi cards your fingers together but doesn't say anything. You watch people dying en masse in front of your eyes and you almost have to chuckle sadly because death feels more familiar and like real life to you than the soft touch of the man next to you.

You hear Javi sniffle as Jack and Rose exchange their last words to each other. Without letting go of his hand you reach forward to grab a tissue for him.

”Thanks,” he says but you don't trust your voice enough to reply.

When the end credits roll you still haven't moved. Neither has Javi, although you're not sure if it's for the same reason. He always watches the end credits and actually reads and memorizes the names rolling across the screen. You barely know the director of your favorite movie...isn't even sure you have a favorite movie, to be honest.

The movie stops and when there's no longer any distraction from the screen, sitting next to Javi becomes too much. You stand, a little too fast, and mumble something about checking the garden before bed as you grab your gun holster again. You're halfway to the door when Javi says your name. You pause and turn back to face him.

”Can we do this again tomorrow?” He's watching you with those damn brown eyes and you are powerless to deny him anything.

”Sure. That would be nice.”

The smile you get in return haunts your dreams all through the night.


End file.
